XinYue realized it late.
Li Hanyan wasn't quiet because he was invisible.
He was quiet because he didn't need to prove anything.
The basketball court said it first.
After school, the sound of the ball hitting the ground echoed across the campus. XinYue had gone there with Xiu Fei and Zhao Xia, just to kill time, just to laugh, just to exist.
And then she saw him.
Li Hanyan, sleeves rolled up, hair messy, hands steady.
Every move looked effortless. No showing off. No drama.
Just control.
Girls stood around the court pretending not to stare.
Some openly did.
"Isn't that Li Hanyan?" someone whispered.
"He's a topper too."
"He doesn't talk to anyone."
"He rejected three girls last month."
XinYue's chest tightened, and she hated that it did.
In class, it became obvious.
Teachers praised him casually, like it was expected.
Perfect answers. Clean notebooks. Calm confidence.
He wasn't loud about his grades.
He wasn't loud about anything.
Girls found excuses to sit near him, ask doubts they didn't have, laugh a little too hard at nothing.
He stayed polite. Distant. Unmoved.
XinYue watched all of it in silence.
It was strange.
She had never wanted someone because others wanted them.
But knowing that everyone did… made her feel small.
Later, Zhao Xia nudged her and whispered,
"You know he's popular, right?"
XinYue nodded, eyes still forward.
"I know."
What she didn't say was this—
that popularity suited him,
but it didn't define him.
Because even with all the noise around him,
when Li Hanyan looked at XinYue,
it felt like the world got quieter.
And that scared her more than anything.
Because liking a boy is easy.
But liking someone
everyone else already wants?
That's where things start breaking.
So tell me —
would you walk away from someone everyone wants… or fight your own fear first?